San Diego State’s basketball team will wear its customized Nike N7 uniforms against Jackson State on Tuesday night at Viejas Arena in their annual ode to Native American Heritage Month. They are turquoise, which represents harmony, friendship, fellowship and several other characteristics connoting camaraderie and solidarity.

Which the Aztecs (3-2) could use right about now.

The great fear for any team in any sport following a loss of historic proportions is fracturing, a loss of confidence, the whole no longer being greater than the sum of its parts. And the Jackson State Tigers are their first opponent since an 87-57 shark attack by Iowa State in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational last Wednesday — their most lopsided margin of defeat in 18 seasons and 446 games.

“It’s unacceptable,” coach Brian Dutcher said, “for a really good program to come out and not be able to muster up more than what we did.”

Sophomore Matt Mitchell put it like this: “I would say (we’re) charged-up, wanting to get more out of each other, especially since we had the showing that we did in Maui, especially seeing what we did on film and how bad we looked.

“For us, it was more of a look in the mirror and check yourself. I don’t think in the last game we took it as personal as we should have. Once they came out and punched us in the mouth, I think we should have punched back, just as hard, and we didn’t.”

The team returned Friday and has held several spirited practices since, including a noticeably more vocal presence by fifth-year senior point guard Devin Watson. Part is with an eye in the rear-view mirror and visions of Iowa State players throwing down uncontested dunks on the break, part with an eye down the road.

Jackson State is 1-5 and currently ranked 350th out of 353 Division I programs in the Kenpom college basketball metric. But on the immediate horizon is Saturday at Missouri Valley Conference favorite Illinois State; Wednesday at home against a 5-1 USD team that just beat Colorado; and Dec. 8 at Cal.

Maybe the Iowa State game was nothing more than a case of dead legs and minds following the epic comeback the day before against Xavier.

Or maybe there are deeper issues with this team that will be exposed again if not correctly quickly.

“The drastic swings are always hard, but it’s part of college basketball,” Dutcher said. “I remember back when I was a young grad assistant at the University of Illinois. We got beat by Purdue by more than 30 points. We played them less than a week later and beat them by 30 points.

“You’ve just got to keep believing in what you’re doing and fight through and be ready for the next game.”

Exhibit A: Less than two weeks after losing 103-64 against SDSU, Texas Southern went to No. 18 Oregon on Monday ... and won 89-84.

Dutcher and his staff have focused on three points of emphasis in practice since Maui.

Rebounding: The Aztecs were minus-23 on the boards in the three Maui games and, Dutcher admitted, “We’re not as good as we thought we might have been.”

Conversion defense: SDSU’s Maui opponents had a 69-25 advantage in fast-break points. That accounts for 44 of the 51 total points the Aztecs were outscored by in the tournament.

Pressure half-court defense: “Teams are a little too comfortable,” Dutcher said. “Even though our defensive numbers are pretty good in a lot of the games, we want to guard the ball a little harder yet not be overplaying everyone on the floor.”

Dutcher also said he’s “still tinkering” with the starting lineup and continued to hint he eventually will insert a big — junior Nolan Narain or freshman Nathan Mensah.

Another issue is the lack of a productive bench, a function of preseason injuries to Mensah and 6-foot-6 Aguek Arop that cost them weeks of invaluable practice time as well as a demanding schedule that deterred Dutcher from putting them in competitive games.

Jackson State should be one opportunity, assuming the Aztecs don’t do what USD did last week and fall behind by nine in the first half. The schedule also eases after the Cal game, with three of the four before the Mountain West season begins coming against manageable opposition.

“The freshmen are still finding their way,” said Dutcher, who has five on the roster. “In certain situations, I’m not real comfortable with them out there … I’m real comfortable with my six returning players. I have to get the freshman up to speed, because I’m not going to play six guys all year.”

The good news Tuesday: This is the fifth year the Aztecs have worn the N7 turquoise unis, and they have yet to lose in them.

Jackson State at SDSU

Tuesday: 7:30 p.m. at Viejas Arena

On the air: Fox Sports San Diego; 1360-AM, 101.5-FM

Records: Jackson State is 1-5, SDSU is 3-2

Series history: This is their first meeting.

Tigers update: Like most SWAC teams at this time of year, the Tigers are canvassing the country collecting “buy game” checks to help bankroll the athletic department. They’ve already been to St. Bonaventure, Boise State and USD — all double-digit losses. From here, they go to Santa Clara and then Pepperdine. The lone victory is 81-68 against Chicago State, which went 3-29 last season. The leading scorers are 6-6 junior Venjie Wallis (12.5 ppg) and Chris Howell (10.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg), a 6-5 grad transfer from the other SDSU (South Dakota State). The Tigers are shooting just 39.4 percent overall and 24.1 percent behind the arc. This is the third SWAC opponent of the season to play at Viejas Arena, with the Aztecs already beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff (76-60) and Texas Southern (103-64). Those teams were picked to finish third and second, respectively, in the preseason SWAC poll; Jackson State was picked eighth.

Aztecs update: They return home after going 1-2 in Maui, ending a streak of six straight nonconference tournaments using an eight-team format where they finished 2-1 or better. They are one of nine men’s and six women’s teams to wear Nike’s N7 uniforms celebrating Native American Heritage Month. In addition to the turquoise unis, Aztecs players will wear an N7 hoodie during warmups and special Jordan Brand sneakers with a raised graphic pattern that represents Native American beadwork. Being the Tigers, Jackson State won’t pose the same political sensitivities as the McNeese Cowboys last year, when Viejas Arena used only school names and not mascots on the scoreboard and in announcements. SDSU is offering a three-game ticket package for upcoming games over the semester break. For $20, you get upper bench seats to men’s games against Brown (Dec. 29) and CSUN (Jan. 1), plus a general-admission ticket to the women’s game against Boise State (Jan. 5).

Next up: Saturday at Illinois State, noon PST (ESPN+).

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San Diego State defeats a team ranked higher than seventh for first time in program history.

San Diego State defeats a team ranked higher than seventh for first time in program history.

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San Diego State defeats a team ranked higher than seventh for first time in program history.

San Diego State defeats a team ranked higher than seventh for first time in program history.

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Hear from Aztecs head basketball coach Brian Dutcher as the team prepares to play at Fresno State.

Hear from Aztecs head basketball coach Brian Dutcher as the team prepares to play at Fresno State.

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Hear from Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher and players after beating New Mexico, 97-77.

Hear from Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher and players after beating New Mexico, 97-77.

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Hear from Aztecs head basketball coach Brian Dutcher and forward Matt Mitchell as the team prepares for Air Force.

Hear from Aztecs head basketball coach Brian Dutcher and forward Matt Mitchell as the team prepares for Air Force.

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Hear from head coach Brian Dutcher and guard Jordan Schakel after the Aztecs beat Wyoming, 84-54.

Hear from head coach Brian Dutcher and guard Jordan Schakel after the Aztecs beat Wyoming, 84-54.